“The first thing that was on my mind going into the recruiting process, is I wanted to go to a school that has high academic standards, and Notre Dame fits that,” the 5-foot-10, 180-pound Hayes told Irish Sports Daily on Wednesday night. “That was the first thing, and everything else fell into place.

“The exposure, Notre Dame has crazy exposure. They’re on national television every Saturday. Notre Dame is a big-time program. When I went down to visit, both times I loved it. I talked to coach (Brian) Kelly a couple times, and felt the love from the coaching staff. I talked to the players and I loved that. All of them were down-to-earth guys, all about being successful in life.

“All that mixed together was a Justice Hayes wonderland.”

Hayes chose the Irish over the in-state Spartans and Wolverines who were both pursuing the running back, as well as Iowa, Tennessee and a handful of other schools.

Hayes is a four-star recruit according to Rivals and a top-five prospect in the state of Michigan. He won’t wow you with his size by any means, but he should be a weapon out of the backfield catching passes. (Just ask him.)

“It’s safe to say I have the best hands in high school. I actually put
that on Facebook that I have a great pair of hands,” Hayes said. “I can do a
lot of things with my body too and that’s going to help me out when I
step on campus.”

Hayes seems to have a little Golden Tate in him with his free-flowing nature and skill-set that could have him catching passes for the Irish as well. I think it’s safe to say that if Hayes puts together a career like Tate did, everybody will be happy.

More to come on what’s turning out to be a very important recruiting week for the Irish…